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J U LY • A U G U S T • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 C G W 2 9 came up—like nding a 3D hacienda for the nal shot—the crew could just buy one online and get it on-screen in under 15 minutes. "I was shooting predominantly in an LED volume and I was contin- ually blown away by how genuine the results looked—even to the na- ked eye. It was so clear how much quicker and more e¢cient Project Arena made the compositing process, which enabled a much more aggressive sense of creativity in the photography," said Richard Cru- do, six-term past-president of the American Society of Cinematog- raphers and director of photography on Ray Tracing FTW. "By careful- ly managing the color and density values of the volume with the live foreground action, I was able to bake-in the exact look I wanted. And since there was no guesswork to burden the special e"ects supervi- sor, the DI process was equally invigorating. I'm certain my colleagues will embrace this tech as soon as it becomes available." Although Ray Tracing FTW was designed to be a test project, no one treated it as anything less than a major production. According to Nichols, "Everyone understood the assignment," which was to cra‰ a love letter to one of Old Hollywood's most popular genres, using modern tools and opinions. To achieve an old western look, the team used an ARRI Alexa 35, loaded with Panavision PVintage lenses, which replicate the original Ultra Speed lenses used throughout the 70s. For color, the team re- lied on Mark Gri¢th of FotoKem, the renowned post house which also graded V-Ray I.R.L., the Heat-inspired short that got Nichols and crew thinking about industry-focused lms in the rst place. Since sounds and music are such an integral part of the genre, the production looked to Nick Cave and INXS super-producer Nick Launay to make the theme song come to life and evoke the spa- ghetti westerns of old. Alex Smith and Margarita Mix then came in to handle the overall score and sound design respectively, bringing even more authenticity to the project. "In the 60s, the studios were in trouble. Audiences were tired of the same old stu"," said Daniel Thron, director and writer of Ray Trac- ing FTW. "But then you get this wave of young lmmakers coming in with smaller cameras that allow for naturalistic photography and acting, and that revolutionized Hollywood. We have the opportunity to bring that same sentiment to the next revolution in lmmaking." ¢ July•August•September 2024: COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD (USPS 665-250) (ISSN- 0271-4159) is published bi-monthly with special additional issues resulting in 8 issues per year by COP Communications, Inc. Corporate o¢ces: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204, Tel: 818-291-1100; FAX: 818-291-1190; Web Address: info@copprints.com. Pe- riodicals Postage Paid at Glendale, CA, 91205 & additional mailing o¢ces. COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD is distributed worldwide. Annual subscription prices are $72, USA; $98, Canada & Mexico; $150 International airfreight. To order subscriptions, call 847-559- 7310. © 2024 CGW by COP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No material may be re- printed without permission. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specic clients, is granted by Computer Graphics World, ISSN-0271-4159, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. Prior to photo- copying items for educational classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. For further information check Copyright Clearance Center Inc. online at: www.copyright.com. The COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD fee code for users of the Transactional Reporting Services is 0271- 4159/96 $1.00 + .35. POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to Computer Graphics World, P.O. Box 3296, Northbrook, IL 60065-3296. FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CONTACT MARI KOHN, DIR. OF SALES 818.472.1491 | mkohn@postmagazine.com WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE, PRESIDENT/CEO 818.291.1111 | brittwage@copcomm.com next issue: october • november • December 2024 THESE ARE SOME OF THE EXCITING TOPICS THAT WILL BE COVERED IN OUR NEXT ISSUE: ¢ Film: Blockbusters & Awards Contenders ¢ Digital Artistry: 3D & Motion Graphics ¢ Yearly Report: Top Tech from 2024 ¢ Industry Trends: AI & Machine Learning ...and much more!